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Yoshi's Island DS

DS Review

By Mark Cullinane - 9th January 2007 23:28

"If New Super Mario Brothers left you feeling a little short-changed, then Yoshi's Island most certainly won't. "

If there are two words that'll quickly rouse the hearts of platforming fans, they're 'Yoshi' and 'Island'. The seminal 1996 title was one of the final major Super Nintendo games to be released, and the game's inimitable pastel-shaded graphics, masterful level design, upbeat music and inventive bosses earned Yoshi's Island huge plaudits from gamers and critics alike. To this day, it remains my personal favourite platformer of all time.

It goes without saying then, that seeing the logo for Yoshi's Island 2 flash up at Nintendo's E3 2006 press conference was just a little bit exciting. Ten years on, a sequel! It was the Yoshi fan's equivalent of that Zelda trailer back in 2003. Finding out that Japanese developer Artoon were to be in charge of the project, however, was like discovering that development duties for Twilight Princess were given to Hudson or Titus. Bad news. After the travesty that was Yoshi's Universal Gravitation for GBA, and the mediocrity of Blinx on Xbox, Artoon were hardly flavour of the month.

However, after a slight name change, and a none-too-protracted development time, Yoshi's Island DS is with us. But is it a tenth anniversary homage to a classic, or another failure by the team that came up with the odious Blinx the Cat? Remarkably, the answer is the former.

Back when the game was announced, we confidently predicted that Nintendo would take far greater control of the reigns than with Artoon's last GBA project. In the case of Yoshi's Island DS, it seems that Nintendo gave Artoon the original Yoshi's Island engine, and told them not to fiddle with it. Indeed, from the off, this new iteration feels near-identical to its illustrious predecessor. The hugely appealing graphical style returns here in full force- the colourful landscapes are second to none in terms of artistic direction, and look almost impossibly vibrant on a DS Lite screen. Aurally, the sequel retains the jaunty upbeat ditties of the original. Most of the tracks on offer here are variations on a theme- but that theme, while entirely in keeping with the spirit of the last game, is new and fresh-sounding. While some tracks disappoint- the dull dungeon music, for example- there's a couple of brand-new tunes in this game that'll transport you right back to 1996, back to Nintendo composer Koji Kondo's prime. They're that good.

How are the DS' hardware features utilised, though? The simple answer to that is: not much, but who gives a toss? Touch-screen usage is limited to the options screen, but then this isn't a game that is suited to touch-screen control anyway. This is platforming at its purest. Microphone? Nada. Multiplayer? Nope. The use of the dual-screens of the system is genuinely effective though. Both the DS screens are used to display the game world. No screen-filling maps here. The result is that a much greater space was available to the designers. The level design has been adapted to take advantage of this extra vertical space, with many levels tending to go upwards. Some reviewers have criticised the dual-screen display in Yoshi's Island, citing the problem that aiming eggs upwards through the gap between the screens causes you to miss targets, and worse, being attacked by enemies that exist 'in the gap', and are thus invisible. Having comprehensively played the game, I can confirm that this is really a non-issue, and will crop up rarely, or not at all. But back to the level design.

While Artoon could take the visual and musical style, game engine and structure directly from the original, the level design was all up to them- and they've delivered magnificently in this area. Areas are long (many are at least twice as long as New Super Mario Brothers), varied, and feel sufficiently different from the original. The pirate-themed world stands out for particular praise, with some interesting, non-linear levels to explore. And there's plenty of levels to go around too. There are forty main levels spread over five worlds, with plenty of unlockable levels on offer if you score highly enough. If New Super Mario Bros. left you feeling a little short-changed, then Yoshi's Island most certainly won't. The difficulty level is also worthy of mention: the first three worlds trundle along easily enough, but come worlds four and five, even platforming veterans will find the going genuinely tough. Not 'unfair tough', but 'one more go tough'.

The main criticism I have of Yoshi's Island DS is that it never strays too far from the template laid down by the original. From the spinning island at the beginning, to the map-screen, to the collectables, to the end of level minigames, to the bosses, there's an awful lot that's been directly ripped from original. In a sense, this is Yoshi's Island for the Touch Generation (sorry), who never got the chance to play it the first time around. For the hardcore who've been there and done that, the ingenious level design and challenging difficulty level will prove attractive. It's a shame really that Artoon were (a) not confident enough to change the formula too much or (b) Nintendo refused to allow them to tinker too much, because the one major new idea the game offers really is a bit of a corker. It's the old chestnut- multiple characters. Not only can you play as Baby Mario, but this time, younger versions of Peach, Wario, DK and Bowser too. Each have their own abilities and uses. Peach's umbrella, for example can be used to ride updraughts of wind to clear high platforms. It's a really entertaining mechanic, actually, and the developers clearly noticed this too- some of the game's best sections involve copious use of the umbrella. Wario's block-dragging magnet and Bowser's flame-breathing aren't as fully-developed, but still open the way for some diverting, if easy, puzzles and challenges within the levels. Swapping between characters is done at predetermined points within levels, and it's generally obvious what you're supposed to do. It's a good addition to the game, and players will quickly find their favourite character- they all have a slightly different 'feel'.

Ultimately, Yoshi's Island DS stands out as yet another quality title for the DS, that deserves a place in anyone's collection. Yoshi's Island's game mechanics are tried, tested, proven and have survived the test of time with aplomb. The Artoon gamble was a risky one, but the finished game delivers on all fronts to deliver an experience that stays remarkably true to the spirit of the original, but manages to remain fresh and relevant, ten years on. It's time to fall in love with platforming all over again.

Comments

Hamish Says:
January 10th, 2007 at 12:57 \|\| Total Comments: 248

I'm loving it. My only gripe is the Sound. The music is no where near as catchy, and a load of the classic chucky sound effects have been replaced with generic or down right disgusting ones.

Apart from that though, I have been enjoying this more than NSMB.

S.C.G Says:
February 7th, 2010 at 07:20 \|\| Total Comments: 380

^ The above comment somehow escaped from the N-europe Time Vortex(TM) and as amusingly related to Sonic as it is, shouldn't be read as referring to Sonic 4.

Now that's cleared up...

It's good to see that Sega are finally doing the 'right' thing i.e basically what fans have wanted since Sonic and Knuckles if we're completely honest and that's a true sequel to the third game(s).

The only mistakes they have made so far is insisting to call Robotnik 'Eggman' - something that I will NEVER accept as a true Sonic fan, plus the running animation which could do with being tweaked to match the earlier games.

My only other 'want' at the moment is Special Stages, they really need to make a triumphant return along with being able to become Super-Sonic in the regular levels once more.

Ah well I can still dream I guess... at least they are finally on the right track now though and indeed the correct dimensional plain.

DrBoo Says:
February 7th, 2010 at 09:36 \|\| Total Comments: 4

Did you know that 'Robotnik' is actually just a name the Americans invented because they didn't like the original name that the Japanese gave (Eggman)? Robotnik is actually not how the Japanese named him. The general concensus now is that Robotnik is his real name and that Eggman is a nickname. Not that it matters... Robotnik or Eggman, as long as it's that big moustached man as enemy, I'm happy ;)

Drift Says:
February 7th, 2010 at 09:41 \|\| Total Comments: 261

Did they just insult Sonic Rush :O

But thats the thing, I think his wiiware outing may be unnecessary...

With Sonic Rush, which IMO pulls off sonic perfectly.. I have sonic in my pocket, and it actually looks really pretty. Sonic Rush 2 is probably the best Sonic game since the 1990's... I'd say it's better ten most in the series :)

Darkflame Says:
February 7th, 2010 at 12:25 \|\| Total Comments: 961

I *love* the grinding in sonic rush.
As with the boast, I think it perfectly complemented the gameplay.

Also the Rush music was great.
But then, most 2d sonic games have fantastic music.

Overall though I want a brand new game with new features that just happens to be 2D. Not a "Sonic 3 with new maps".

Kurtle Says:
February 7th, 2010 at 16:18 \|\| Total Comments: 268

I'm sure they wont go back to Sonic 1 - you couldn't even spin on that :P

Iun Says:
February 7th, 2010 at 18:04 \|\| Total Comments: 152

Dare I say it... I predicted a 2D console Sonic waaaay back in an issue of Fire Flower.

Sonic is all about speed, lightning fast turns, quick reflexes and not knowing what the hell is going on.

Hellfire Says:
February 7th, 2010 at 18:50 \|\| Total Comments: 735

I think there's a big misconception as to what Sonic was all about. It's not just speed, it's momentum. In Sonic Advance and Rush (and I like Advance and love Rush, Rush Adventure not so much) it's just about speed, you're always pressing right and going as fast as possible. In the Mega Drive ones it was all about accelaration, plataforming mixed with speed and just a bit of exploration, it was finely balanced and the later 2D Sonic games, while much better than the 3D ones don't quite capture that.